Chaos' Heir - Chapter 1177

Chapter 1177: Flow
The journey immediately went back to the endless and boundless stream of dark canvas that barely differed from each other. That was unavoidable since the universe was mostly empty, and the distant stars couldn’t provide any decent diversion from that seemingly eternal black scenery.

Nevertheless, the dullness from the previous part of the journey never returned. Khan couldn’t feel bored watching the unchanging empty scene past the canopy anymore. He sensed his destination growing close by the day, and his cold excitement inevitably intensified, fending off any other emotion.

Of course, that feeling only existed inside Khan’s mind. Only he saw the path he was crossing and the shortening distance from the danger zone. His ship had no such landmark, limiting itself to mapping that side of the universe and accumulating data.

The data would undoubtedly be useful in the future, but Khan couldn’t find the strength to look at it. That was for his scientists to study, while his attention was on something else entirely, unable to move away from the place he had searched for most of his life.

Time passed, but Khan didn’t even try to keep track of it. His glowing eyes hardly ever stopped illuminating the canopy, staring at the black expanse past it. Star systems and other celestial bodies occasionally appeared on his path, forcing him to steer the ship away from them, but complete stillness mostly dominated that trip.

Khan seemed to have turned in the mutated vegetation he had just eradicated. His body didn’t need much in the first place, so he forgot about eating and drinking for weeks on end. The few times he stood up, he unleashed his real speed to return to the bridge as soon as possible, obsessed with seeing that invisible path growing shorter.

Still, as fast as Khan’s ship was, the asteroids weren’t close. The universe never stayed still, either, making many details about the trip unclear or outdated. Khan only knew where his destination was, so he kept his ride pointed at it, eagerly awaiting that fated arrival.

One month passed, then a second, and ultimately a third. The warning signs on the control desk became more frequent, and the ship constantly adjusted its calculations to improve the eventual trip back to Coravis. As things stood, returning there would take longer than half a year, and any more than that would make the remaining fuel unable to support it.

The seemingly aimless flight through the dark expanse could also make the best minds disillusioned. After all, the only clues came from the mutated tree’s mystical visions. They weren’t exactly reliable or factual, but Khan never once doubted them, and the fourth month rewarded his conviction.

The rare solar systems grew rarer, and even the distant stars seemed to become more distant. The universe was mostly empty but felt gradually emptier as the distance from the danger zone shortened, turning almost non-existent.

It seemed Khan had dived into a completely dead zone of the universe, but one thing lived among that emptiness. That celestial body grew closer, acting as a still, fixed landmark in the middle of the darkness, and its light soon reached the ship’s scanners.

Initially, Khan only saw distant flashes of unclear light on the screens. Then, the radiance’s color became more evident, revealing its iconic blue shades and power. The ship’s menus started to flicker as it approached that destination, forcing Khan to rely on his eyes and ethereal connection to study the scene.

The interference never reached the critical point. The ship kept working fine, albeit with the occasional disturbance. The scanners, some functions, and the internal illumination became unreliable, but Khan had long since stopped minding them.

Khan couldn’t help himself. He saw the distant item grow closer from behind the canopy, until that darkened mirror couldn’t contain its width anymore.

Scenes that seemed to have come directly from the past visions filled the canopy. Khan saw the vast arrangement of asteroids, standing still in the middle of the endless blackness. The storm of lightning bolts afflicted its insides, ricocheting from rock to rock, acting as a defensive spell.

The destination the mutated tree had pointed Khan to still existed, being alive and well, but he immediately spotted differences or details he had missed during the mental trip.

The asteroids seemed to have been arranged randomly, but there was a certain profound order to their location. Also, they didn’t occupy that part of the universe chaotically. The whole array had a vague spherical shape, conveying artificial vibes.

Truthfully, Khan didn’t need to read the report on the control desk to confirm that point. He had only needed one look at the blue storm among the asteroids to know that the vast structure wasn’t even close to being natural.

The storm was undeniably Nak, carrying the same contagious mana that had cursed countless planets and living beings. That mysterious species had created it to hide its home and as a last hurdle for their heir to cross.

Of course, Khan was partially guessing, but his hypotheses had never felt more on point. He quickly activated the autopilot, ordering the ship to gather as much information as possible before opening its side doors. Khan crossed the mana barrier, and his nape tried to melt under the sensations that invaded him as soon as he stepped into open space.

Khan had no conclusive proof or facts for his scientists to study. However, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the blue star system from his nightmares stood at the center of that array of asteroids.

Moreover, looking at the asteroids also revealed how to cross the storm. That sudden understanding felt both hilarious and nostalgic since it involved one of the first instances in which Khan talked with the mana. He would have to “flow” through the storm, as if swimming through a chaotic sea.

So, Khan stood there, hovering in space while staring at the array of asteroids, absorbing all the information he could find while his ship did the same. As unbelievable as that thought was, Khan had to accept that the end to his nightmares was finally within reach.